According to Houston’s Archaeological and Historical Commission, Hogg platted lots for houses with restrictive covenants, set aside a separate commercial district and allocated space for a park and a school. Today the neighborhood, dotted with homes in the bungalow style that was ascendant in the 1920s, is one of Houston’s 15 designated historic districts.

Last week, the owners of one of Norhill’s historic brick bungalows, built around 1935 at 801 Pizer, obtained a permit to tear it down.

The owners, who say the house is in disrepair and pledged in their application to rebuild in a historically accurate style, exploited what critics have long called a loophole in the city’s historic preservation ordinance: When the historic commission denies a demolition request, the owners simply have to wait 90 days before summoning the heavy equipment.

City officials say 16 buildings in historic districts, mostly homes or church buildings, applied for demolition permits last year.

The house on Pizer was included today in Swamplot’s daily demolition report. Most of the comments on the item express regret or annoyance at the loss of another bit of Houston’s history.

You can read the historic commission agenda item, with background on the property and problems cited by the owners, after the jump.